Willem Frederik van Eelen (4 July 1923 – 24 February 2015) was a Dutch researcher and businessperson, who pioneered the creation and development of cultured meat. He is recognized as one of the "godfathers of cultured meat".[1][2][3]
Willem van Eelen | |
|---|---|
 Van Eelen in 2013 | |
| Born | Willem Frederik van Eelen 4 July 1923 |
| Died | 24 February 2015 (aged 91) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Alma mater | University of Amsterdam |
| Occupation(s) | Researcher, businessperson |
| Known for | Pioneering the creation and development of cultured meat |
Biography
editVan Eelen was born in the Dutch East Indies on 4 July 1923,[4] the son of a doctor.[2] He served in the army in Indonesia during the Second World War. Following the loss of the Dutch colony to the Japanese, Van Eelen was captured and spent the remainder of the war as a prisoner. His experiences of cruelty and hardship in multiple prisoner of war camps informed his later perception of the world.[2]
Van Eelen studied psychology at the University of Amsterdam after the war and after attending a lecture on the preservation of meat, he came up with the idea of growing meat in a laboratory. Van Eelen was not a vegetarian, but cared strongly about the way that animals are treated and felt that "[g]rowing meat without inflicting pain seemed a natural solution."[5]
Following his graduation, Van Eelen attended medical school where he connected with research scientists and biologists in the hope of developing his idea into reality. He dropped out after one of his tutors said that if he was serious about his idea, he would need to raise money to fund research. Van Eelen ran a succession of restaurants and art galleries, with his wife, and they saved whatever spare money they had, to put towards the development of his idea.[5]
By the 1990s, with the help of several investors, Van Eelen raised US$750,000. His first patent was filed in 1994, with several more following.[2]
In 2014, Van Eelen suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.[2] He died in Amsterdam on 24 February 2015, at the age of 91. He was buried in Noordwijk .[6]
References
edit- ^ Noyes, Andrew (2020-12-21). "Eat Just Makes History (Again) with Restaurant Debut of Cultured Meat". Business Wire. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ a b c d e Purdy, Chase (2017-09-24). "The idea for lab-grown meat was born in a prisoner-of-war camp". Quartz. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ Eschner, Kat (2017-12-01). "Winston Churchill Imagined the Lab-Grown Hamburger". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2022-02-03.
- ^ Wurgaft, Benjamin Aldes (2015-04-02). "'Godfather of Cultured Meat' Willem Van Eelen Passes Away at 91". New Harvest. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ a b Specter, Michael (2011-05-16). "Test-Tube Burgers". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2021-02-09.
- ^ van Mensvoort, Koert (2015-03-03). "In Vitro Meat Godfather Dies at Age of 91". Next Nature Museum. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
Further reading
edit- Purdy, Chase (2020). "A Culinary Godfather". Billion Dollar Burger: Inside Big Tech's Race for the Future of Food. New York, New York: Penguin Randomhouse. ISBN 978-0-525-53694-9. OCLC 1121602679.